E-Learning System Platform for Training of Ontario Region’s Nursing Staff.

1. Title

   E-Learning System Platform for Training of Ontario Region’s Nursing Staff.

2. Scope
   1. Objectives of the Requirement

To provide online access to departmental developed and approved training material for Ontario Region nursing staff; this platform will insure access to mandatory education for nursing competencies required for safe patient care through a system that will house education materials developed by our Unit. It will also allow for tracking and reminders of mandatory recertification to allow the Region to report more accurately on staffing competencies to address recommendations from the nursing service audit, and required PMS reporting.

1. Background and Specific Scope of the Requirement

Ontario Region is home to both the largest on-reserve status First Nation population (98,212) and the largest overall status First Nation population (on and off-reserve) (215,205). There are 133 First Nation communities in Ontario. Thirty-three are remote and only accessible by air or ice roads. Ontario has Sixteen Tribal Councils, Four Political and Territorial Organizations, one Independent First Nation and two First Nations Health Authorities. The Region is home to 22 Nursing Stations plus 4 satellite offices, health centres/stations/offices, 10 Addictions Treatment Centres and two provincial hospitals.

FNIHB works with First Nations and Inuit partners to provide or fund effective, sustainable, and culturally-appropriate health programs and services, overseen by the Regional Primary Health Care Unit (RPHCU). Broadly, the RPHCU is responsible and accountable for the quality of health service delivery in First Nations communities in Ontario, including pharmacy, nutrition, and home and community care. Other examples of health service delivery activities are shown below:

• Emergency and urgent care response – lifesaving care in the event of trauma (e.g., gunshots, knife stabs, motor vehicle accidents, assaults) and medical emergency (e.g., heart attacks, seizures, respiratory failure)
• Supporting end of life care – dying closer to home
• Respond to infectious disease outbreaks and environmental health assaults
• Provide episodic illness care, access to laboratory and diagnostic tests
• Provide immunizations, public health education, health planning support

It is a departmental requirement that federally employed nurses and other professionals maintain currency with concensus best practices, organizational policies and protocols, and adherence to the requirements of provincial Regulated Colleges (e.g., College of Nurses of Ontario). The Primary Health Care staff are dispersed across the Region of Ontario, making face-to-face training and synchronous training challenging.

In 2015, the Office of the Auditor General (AOG) completed an assessment of primary care delivery. Significant recommendations from this report concerned the maintanance of and accessiblity to FNIHB mandatory training (specialized training curricula) that supports the delivery of emergency and urgent care, public health outbreaks, immunization delivery, infection disease prevention and control).

The community illness burden is increasing and constantly changing. As a result, our educational offerings (in addition to the mandatory training) must be nimble both in terms of content and delivery mechanism. This is best done through a system that is controlled by Ontario Region and the subject matter experts knowledgeable about the Regional context, processes and learning needs of the Region. Learners will be able to access content in a timely manner and review archived content to reinforce understanding and implementation.

Given the COVID context that we are currently in, and are projected to be in for additional months, ISC FNIHB ON Region needs a solution to offer and be able to track mandatory education for nurses, without which health care outcomes for FN peoples will be impacted. Our team has demands for new hire orientation at a frequency of twice per month, from previous schedule of once every 3-4 months, and in-person training is not currently an option.

An e-learning platform addresses these geographic and scheduling issues. Asynchronous securely accessible curricula will support continuous professional development and tracking of such education. The proposed e-learning platform comprises part of the response to the AOG report. A consistent and accessible e-learning platform is a critical tool to ensure equitable access to continuing professional development consistent with interdisciplinary practice and independent of the location of the provider’s practice.